Unsolved Mysteries of Classical Music

The Curse of the Ninth Symphony 

The curse of the ninth symphony has long been a superstition in the history of classical music. According to the legend, a composer’s ninth symphony will inevitably be their last, with death just around the corner. Many claim that this so-called curse is meant to defend the fame and legacy of Beethoven who himself is renowned for his nine symphonies, ensuring that no one surpasses him. However, some argue that Beethoven was also under the curse as he did die soon after the completion of his Ninth Symphony. The myth began with Gustav Mahler, who made the realisation that Beethoven, Schubert and Bruckner had all died before or while writing their tenth symphony, having already completed nine others.  Among others are Dvorak, Spohr and Glazunov. To escape the curse, he refused to call his ninth symphony by its number, instead calling it Das Lied von der Erde, The Song of the Earth. The plan worked, even after finishing his tenth symphony he titled ninth. However, his victory was short-lived as he contracted pneumonia and died at the young age of 51. Phillip Glass also attempted to beat the curse. He wrote his tenth symphony before the premier of his ninth. Arnold Schoenberg commented on this, stating: “It seems that the Ninth is a limit. He who wants to go beyond it must pass away.”

Mozart’s Unfinished Requiem

Another composition that is shrouded in mystery is Mozart’s unfinished Requiem. Mozart had begun to compose it while on his deathbed as his health was slowly deteriorating. Interestingly enough, it is unsure the exact cause of Mozart’s death. However, many believe that he was poisoned and even Mozart himself thought so too. A popular conspiracy is that Antonio Salieri, Mozart’s biggest rival, poisoned him.

It was in early July 1791 that an “unknown, grey stranger” turned up at Mozart’s door claiming that he represented someone who wanted a Requiem from him and that the mysterious commissioner wanted to remain anonymous. Spooked by this request, Mozart worked obsessively on this composition. However, he never managed to finish the entire piece as he died aged 35 on the 5th of December 1791. At this point, the commissioner had already paid Mozart, but Mozart’s widow, Constanze feared that the patron would want his money back after receiving the incomplete work. As a result, she requested the piece to be finished by Joseph Eybler. However, Eybler instead passed the task over to one of Mozart’s pupils, Franz Zaver Sussmayr who had been given detailed instructions from the composer about how to finish the piece. Sussmayr hand-copied what Mozart had written up to making it virtually impossible to determine who wrote what. There is some evidence, however, that Mozart composed up to the first 8 bars of the Lacrimosa before his death. In 1950, the unfinished manuscript of the Requiem was found in Brussels, but the last page had been torn out. 

Yet, the biggest question of all is: “Who was this mysterious composer?” At first, many believed it to be Antonio Salieri. However it was in fact Anton Leitgeb, the son of the mayor of Vienna who had a reputation of passing other people’s music off as his own. He commissioned the Requiem in hopes of using it to commemorate his late wife, Anna. It took nearly a decade for him to acknowledge Mozart as the Requiem’s true composer, having been persuaded by Constanze. 

Tchaikovsky’s Mysterious Death 

There has been much speculation as to the cause of Tchaikovsky’s death. The official prognosis was that he died from cholera after drinking unboiled tap water at a restaurant named Leiner’s. He was accompanied by his brother, nephew and other friends who warned him not to drink the water after being told that no boiled water was available to drink. It is important to remember that at the time health regulations required water served in restaurants to be boiled before being served as there was an outbreak of cholera in the city. Despite this, Tchaikovsky reportedly requested cold unboiled water and drank it anyway. 

He had already exhibited symptoms of cholera days after the premier but refused to see a doctor. When Dr. Lev Bertenson finally diagnosed him with cholera, Tchaikovsky's condition initially seemed to improve after the visit. However, his kidneys soon began to fail, and despite a priest from St. Isaac's Cathedral administering last rites, it was too late to save him. Tchaikovsky passed away on November 6th, 1893, at 3 a.m.

The fact that Tchaikovsky supposedly died due to cholera was surprising to many as it was largely considered a disease of the poor. When the cholera outbreak began in the summer of 1893, it was primarily confined to the city’s slums where the poor lived in close proximity to one another in unsanitary conditions. The disease did not affect people of higher social status. Some speculate that Tchaikovsky’s death might have been the result of a “court of honour” convened to address accusations of the “homosexual affairs” Tchaikovsky had with a caretaker’s son. This meeting, held in 1893, reportedly ended with the decision that Tchaikovsky was to kill himself. In a BBC documentary entitled Pride or Prejudice, Dr John Henry of Guy’s Hospital concluded that the reported symptoms of Tchaikovsky’s illness fit very closely with arsenic poison. Indeed, the diarrhoea, dehydration and kidney failure Tchaikovsky suffered from resembled cholera; it may have been used to bolster a potential illusion of death as a case of cholera. 

Others claim that the cause of death was suicide by reckless action. According to this speculation, Tchaikovsky had been undergoing a severe personal crisis caused by an infatuation for his nephew, Vladimir Davydov. He supposedly poured his agonies and despair onto his last work, the Sixth Symphony, then drank unboiled water in hopes of contracting cholera after realising the true extent of his feelings for Vladimir. He believed that committing suicide was the best course of action as homosexuality was heavily frowned upon in Russian society during the late 19th century. 

Two Skulls in Joseph Haydn’s Tomb

In 1809, just days after the composer Joseph Haydn’s death, grave robbers broke into the cemetery and opened his coffin in pursuit of his skull. It is said that a couple of Haydn’s friends paid a gravedigger to follow through with this job, claiming that they wanted to protect the skull from desecration. Yet in reality, they wanted to see if the bumps and ridges in the composer’s skull were signs of superior musical capabilities. The two might just have gotten away with it if not for Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy II who decided to give the composer a proper burial more than a decade after his death. When the body was exhumed, it was quite obvious that Hadyn’s head was missing. Funnily enough, the gravedigger was courteous as to leave the wig behind. It did not take long until Esterhazy traced the head back to Rosenbaum and Peter who denied all allegations of stealing the skull. Eventually, Rosenbaum “returned” the skull. After a not-so-thorough investigation, medical professionals accepted that the skull Rosenbaum had given to Esterhazy belonged to Haydn, as the bone seemed to belong to an older man and Haydn had died at the age of 77. However, the skull that Rosenbaum claimed to be Haydn’s was not actually his. So, where had the skull gone? Well it was sewn inside a straw mattress belonging to Rosenbaum’s wife, in an attempt to hide it from the authorities.  And it worked.  It was not until 145 years later that Hadyn’s skull was finally reunited with his body. The Esterhazy family decided to hold a ceremony to commemorate the occasion. To their surprise, upon exhuming the body, a skull had already been placed inside the tomb. At that point, it was unsure where it had come from, so they left it where it was. To this day, Haydn’s tomb contains two heads. Who does the other skull belong to? Well, that remains a mystery. 

Enigma Variations

The Enigma Variation is an orchestral work comprising fourteen variations on an original theme. Elgar dedicated the work to his closest circle of friends, each variation being a musical sketch of one the acquaintances.  

Interestingly enough, there appears to be a hidden theme that goes throughout the entire piece. At the time, no one knew what the theme was except for Enigma himself, and even to this day many “music theory fanatics” have tried to crack the code but to no avail.  On the day of its premiere, Elgar Enigma wrote: “The enigma I will not explain - its “dark saying” must be left unguessed, and I warn you that the apparent connection between the variations and the theme is often of the slightest texture; further, through and over the whole set, another and larger theme “goes” but is not played.” Later on, he gave six conditions to the theme. 

1. The enigma theme is a counterpoint to the principal theme. 
2. The principal theme is never heard
3. The principal theme is very famous.
4. Fragments of the principal theme are present in the variations.
5. The principal theme is a melody that can be played through and over the whole set of variations, including the entire enigma theme. 
6. The enigma theme comprises measures 1 through 19